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1 Philip & the Ethiopian: Being Teachable and Available Acts 8:4-8

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1 Philip & the Ethiopian: Being Teachable and Available Acts 8:4-8 1 PHILIP & THE ETHIOPIAN: BEING TEACHABLE AND AVAILABLE ACTS 8:4-8, 26-40 Global missions expert Paul Borthwick shared a story that reminds us how God's mission can be from anyone anywhere at any time. He stopped at a McDonald's in Cambridge, Massachusetts and noticed a young man named Peter working the counter. He’d been a part of Borthwick’s young adult ministry at church. He’d just graduated from Harvard University with a master's degree. Borthwick asked Peter, "What are you doing here?” knowing Harvard master's degree students don't usually aspire to work the counter at McDonald's. "Well," Peter explained, "I graduated in May but I went four months without finding a job, so I said to myself, 'I need some income to pay bills.' So this is where I've ended up—at least for now." Borthwick replied, "Sorry to hear that. It must be hard.” But Peter cut me off. "No. Don't be sorry. God has me here. This place is giving me awesome opportunities to share my faith. I'm on a shift that includes a Buddhist guy from Sri Lanka, a Muslim fellow from Lebanon, a Hindu lady from India, and a fellow Christian from El Salvador. It's awesome. I get to be a global missionary to my coworkers while asking 'would you like fries with that?'" Both Peter and Borthwick laughed. Peter found himself in a setting he never would have chosen as part of his long-term plan, but his mindset of living as a person sent by God shaped the way he looked at his circumstances and at the people around him. Do you consider yourself a person sent by God? I want us to look at the story of two “one hit wonders” today. The first person is a man by the name of Philip. He was one of the seven men chosen by the very first church in Jerusalem to oversee the distribution of free food to needy Christian widows and make sure it was done fairly. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was also one of those seven men. After Stephen was killed, the first Christians took off far and wide in order to escape persecution. Philip headed to a region just north of Jerusalem known as Samaria. Let’s read what happened. If Stephen was considered the first Christian martyr, Philip might be rightly regarded as the first Christian missionary. But the story about Philip I want us to reflect on today begins at v. 26. It involves a one-to-one encounter between Philip and another “one hit wonder” in the Bible. It doesn’t even tell us this other man’s name. But he was from the region of Ethiopia in eastern Africa. He was an important official in the Ethiopian government – treasurer to the queen of Ethiopia. And like many men who served a royal court in a high position back in that day and time, he was a eunuch. Let’s read that part of Acts 8 now. Besides being an amazing and interesting story, this encounter between Philip and the man from Ethiopia illustrates some truths about evangelism and what it can mean for you and me to be evangelistic. Like the other “one hit wonders” we’ve been considering, the story of these two men can help us follow Jesus better. I believe their story helps us answer two very big, important questions. Here’s the first one… DOES GOD CARE ABOUT SPIRITUALLY LOST PEOPLE? 2 You already know the answer to that question. Absolutely! In fact, God wants lost people found – even more than we do. The whole message and mission of the Bible revolves around that fact. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (Jo 3:16 NLT) Jesus expressed His own life mission in those terms, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Lk. 19:10 NLT) But here’s a story that backs up those words. God used Stephen’s martyrdom and the threat of persecution to push the very first Christians out of the city of Jerusalem so they would reach more lost people. In Acts 8, we see God’s heart for the spiritually lost people living in Samaria as well as just one spiritual seeker traveling alone who wanted to find God. God cares about the mass of lost people in this world and He cares about individual lost people, too. This story illustrates God’s intense passion and energy God to reach lost people with the good news of how they can discover an eternal relationship with Him through Jesus. Do you find God’s passion – Jesus’ passion – to reach spiritually lost people kind of mystifying? As if to say, why is that such a big deal? It could be because – like many American Christians – you have suffered the loss of lostness. Increasingly, our culture regards the truth that some people will spend eternity in Heaven while others will spend it in Hell as repulsive, unloving, demeaning, and intolerant. Our culture much prefers believing the myth that many paths lead to God and Jesus is just one good option. Any football fan knows Aaron Rodgers – the star quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. He apparently grew up in an evangelical Christian home. In a recent interview, however, he expressed some strong doubts about what he received from that background. He said, “Church on Sunday it was like… make sure you dress a certain way, don’t bring that person, this person’s going to get looked at strangely if they show up. Again, it’s very black and white, binary…. It’s set up binary, it’s us and them. It’s saved and unsaved, it’s heaven and hell. I don’t know how you can believe in a God who wants to condemn most of the planet to a fiery hell.” Well, I don’t believe in that kind of God either, Aaron. Now, true, some Christians and churches can be very judgmental and prejudiced. But, if by using the word “binary,” Aaron wants to dismiss the truth that there are those who will discover an eternal relationship with God in this life and those who will reject it, he needs to think more about what Jesus Himself said. After all, Jesus was rather “binary” I guess. “‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’” (Jo, 14:6 NLT) “‘You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.’” (Mt. 7:13-14 NLT) If you don’t really believe people are eternally lost without a commitment to Jesus as Lord and Savior, you have no reason to be a follower of Jesus yourself. The story about Philip and the Ethiopian reminds us that God cared so deeply about this one man and his eternal destiny that He miraculously arranged for them to meet on a hot, dusty, desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza. God wants lost people found – even more than we do. That’s exactly why it’s an integral part of our disciplemaking effort here at KRBC through our triads. ROPES is our acronym. Disciples of Jesus focus on 3 relationships with God and others, obedience to God, prayer, evangelism, and Scripture. Evangelism is an essential part of what it means to follow Jesus well. Here’s something else. God wants all lost people found – even ones we don’t think deserve it. If we’d been Jewish Christians in the first century, it’s likely that the news of Philip doing evangelism among Samaritans and, also, with an Ethiopian eunuch would have made us uncomfortable. But God has a way of moving us out of our comfort zones, doesn’t He? Samaritans and Jews hated each other in Jesus’ day. Jews considered Samaritans to be racially impure and heretical in their spiritual beliefs. But Jesus went out of His way to reach out to Samaritans. Do you remember the woman at the well story? She was a Samaritan. Before He went back to Heaven, Jesus also said, “‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 NLT) Seems like many of the first Christians – all of them Jewish - forgot those last parts. Not Philip. The only other people group higher on the unacceptable scale for first century Jews were Gentiles. Guess what the Ethiopian eunuch was? A Gentile. It’s likely he was a “God-fearer” – a Gentile who worshiped the one, true God, but was not yet a convert to Judaism. Is there anyone you consciously or unconsciously exclude from having the opportunity to hear about Jesus and become His followers? I’ve heard some Christians argue we should be very concerned about the number of Muslims we allow to immigrate into our country. Really? Is it possible that getting Muslims out of their oppressive - hostile to everything Christian - countries might give some of them a chance to finally meet Jesus as their Savior? Or, are there other individuals you think are beyond God’s ability to save by His grace and transform by His Spirit? Child molesters? Transgender people? Other folk whose lifestyle makes you squirm? I’ll tell you why I admire Philip.
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